


In Which Therion Makes A Stupid Decision

by Treekianthia



Series: Gremlin Adventures [1]
Category: Octopath Traveler (Video Game)
Genre: Dumb Headcanon, Fake Body Horror, Ficlet, Gen, Therion is a little shit, prank gone wrong
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-02
Updated: 2018-08-02
Packaged: 2019-06-20 16:51:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15538713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Treekianthia/pseuds/Treekianthia
Summary: After a few months of travelling, Therion decides he doesn't want to be friends with any of his companions. In order to keep them from bothering him, he decides to play a prank on them, though it doesn't end the way he expected. No spoilers; based on a headcanon about Therion. (Fic Archive: 07/24/18)





	In Which Therion Makes A Stupid Decision

**Author's Note:**

> The following fic was originally posted to outside sources on 07/24/18. It is being posted here for archival purposes and to help document my progress as a writer. More info on myself and my works can be found on my tumblr blog woodland-knight.

It had started with a cherry tomato. **  
**

The plan was simple, yet perfect. Therion considered himself a professional when it came to connivery and thievery, but this? This he considered his best plan yet. It was enough to keep himself amused while showing his companions he didn’t want to be friends, and if all went well, they’d keep their distance from him from then on. In the few months they had been travelling together, he had kept many of secrets under wraps, though a few had managed to slip out. There was one, however, that he had yet to reveal; one that made this plan possible.

Obtaining the tomato had been easy enough. He had volunteered to join Alfyn and Tressa on a supply run, much to their surprise, and looted the small, red fruit when they passed by a farmer’s stall. He had pocketed a few for good measure, and for the rest of the trip followed behind the other two in a devilish silence. They didn’t pay much attention to him as they chatted amongst themselves, but they would occasionally look behind them to make sure he was still following. Luckily for them, Therion had no plans of running; not yet, of course.

Therion waited until everyone was gathered together in the inn before going through with his plan. Normally the group was split up around town as everyone did their daily activities, but they had all come together to decide where to go next. After a bit of a scuffle in the northwest, they thought it might be time to go to the east for a bit. Either way, Therion didn’t care. As long as he found the dragonstones, he would be satisfied.

“Both Tressa and Cyrus said they’d like to go to Boulderfall for a bit,” one companion mentioned to another. Therion wasn’t paying much attention to them as they spoke, as he was waiting for the perfect opportunity to come to him. One little bump, and it would begin.

And then, much to his delight, it hit him… Literally.

Somebody had passed by him and knocked into him without meaning to. He hadn’t seen it coming, so he had to react fast. Slipping a few tomatoes out of his pocket and into his hand, he placed them over the left side of his face and squeezed them.

“AGH! MY EYE!”

His yelling had caught the attention of the others, and not even seconds later he heard Tressa let out a blood curdling shriek. Tomato juice ran down Therion’s hands and cheeks, and it seemed to give the effect he had wanted. At least, based on the pesky merchant girl’s reaction.

“Are you okay!?” Alfyn asked in a panic. He had been the one to hit Therion, and as soon as he turned and saw the “blood” on Therion’s hands, his face turned a ghostly shade of white and he let out a loud yelp of his own.

From the other side of the room, Ophilia came running over. She was yelling about one thing or another about healing Therion, and looking at her face she looked like she was about to either cry or faint. Trying not to smirk, Therion lifted his bangs slightly to show the dripping, red goop and an empty eye socket. The Cleric stumbled backwards in shock, bumping into Cyrus, who had shouted out in surprise himself in reaction to everyone else shoutin while he had been trying to sit and read.

It had only been 20 or 30 seconds in total for it to all go down, but the satisfaction Therion felt would last a lifetime. Tressa was busy trying to get Ophilia back onto her feet, and Alfyn was looking through herbs trying to figure out how to cure “liquified eye”. Cyrus, meanwhile, was trying to catch his breath after the scare and had yet to notice Therion’s “injury”. It was a delightful and wonderful scene, and Therion was smiling up until Olberic came over and lifted Therion’s face up.

“Let me look at that,” the much older gentleman said as he squinted his eyes. Therion’s bangs fell away to the side, revealing his now closed, missing eye covered in scars.

“Like what you see?” Therion asked with a smug tone. He figured he had been caught in his lie at this point, but it had been fun while it had lasted.

“...this is an old wound,” Olberic stated as he let go of Therion. “You’ve been missing that eye for awhile now. That was a dirty trick you played.”

From a few seats away, there was the faint sound of a dagger being drawn. “Maybe he’d like to lose his other eye as well,” Primrose suggested with annoyance in her voice. She and Olberic were the ones trying to do most of the planning, and she didn’t seem to enjoy the interruption. Again though, Therion really didn’t care.

“An eye for a fake eye, eh? That doesn’t seem fair to me,” Therion joked while shrugging. “Besides, I think you’d find I have better aim with my one eye in tact.”

“That wasn’t funny! I seriously thought you were hurt!” Tressa complained as she fanned Ophilia with a stray piece of paper she had found in her backpack. On his right side, Therion could see H’aanit nod in agreement as she sat with Linde.

“The lass is correct. Thou hast caused a lot of trouble, and now Linde is panicked from all thy yelling,” H’aanit said as she glared daggers at Therion’s one eye. Not caring, he simply turned his head away from her so she was out of his view.

“I see my jokes aren’t appreciated here,” Therion said before shrugging again. “Lesson learned then. No more jokes about my missing eye.”

“No lesson is learned without punishment,” Cyrus interjected. “You deserve some sort of penalty for frightening Ms. Clement and Colzione, and for riling Linde up as you did.”

“I still suggest he loses his other eye,” Primrose grumbled. She was now in Therion’s field of vision, and he could see she had placed her dagger on the table. Therion, however, was not troubled.

Meanwhile, Olberic shook his head. “That won’t solve the problem, Primrose,” he said with crossed arms. He was glaring down at the young thief and most likely trying to decide his fate.

“Shucks, I’m just glad to know I wasn’t the one who squashed his eye,” Alfyn mentioned as he sat down near the younger girls. “I don’t think anything can fix a wound that horrific.”

Regaining composure, Ophilia nodded in agreement. “There’s only so much that magic and herbs can heal,” she said before taking a deep breath. She was still shaken, but she would recover.

“Then what doest thou suggest we do?” H’aanit asked as she stood back up. Linde seemed to be calmer now, as the giant snow leopard took a moment to walk around before curling up under Cyrus’ chair.

Guilt free, Therion raised his hands slightly. “Fine, fine, punish me as you see fit,” he said smugly. “Though there’s nothing you can really do to stop me from going out and continuing to cause trouble. I’m a free, thieving spirit, you know.”

Unamused, Olberic stared Therion down. “Fine then, if that’s what you think, then you’re grounded,” he said with an intense demeanor. “No leaving the inn unless we’re traveling, and you’ll be under surveillance at all times of the day.”

Therion’s one eye widened in horror. “Wh-what!? You can’t do that!” he cried out in disbelief. “I’m 22 years old! You can’t ground me!”

“Too late,” Olberic continued telling Therion. “You’ve caused a lot of trouble, and now you’re paying for your actions.”

“This is unfair!” Therion complained. He couldn’t believe what he was hearing.  _Him? Grounded?_  What kind of madness was this!?

“That’s what you get for being a jerk!” Tressa mocked before sticking her tongue out. Therion was just about to make a move and pounce on her, but Olberic grabbed him by the torso and picked him up before Therion could.

“Come on boy, you’re going to your room,” Olberic said as he started to carry Therion away. Therion tried his best to kick his way out of the situation, but the Unbending Blade was too strong. There was no way Therion could escape his grasp. He was screwed, and there was no one to help him.

“I’m an adult! This is absolutely ridiculous!” Therion continued to complain. He felt Olberic grip him tighter, and for a moment Therion felt like he couldn’t breathe.

“Then act like one and think about what you’ve done,” Olberic demanded as he opened the door to Therion’s room and dropped him in. “If you haven’t apologized by tomorrow evening, I’ll see that your punishment continues.”

“You’ll pay for this!” Therion shouted as he pulled his hand back and formed a fist. “I’ll make sure you regret putting me in here!”

Before Therion could make a strike at Olberic, the door was slammed shut and locked up tight. Therion was left alone in the small room, where the windows weren’t big enough to climb out of and the door didn’t have a pickable lock. He was stuck, treated like a small child being punished for a misdeed, and he would stay there until the group moved again. It felt like an unfitting punishment for such a harmless joke, but there he was. Grounded at the age of 24 by a man much older and stronger than him.

All over a stupid cherry tomato.

**Author's Note:**

> So confession, this fic is actually incomplete. I planned to write more when first working on it but ultimately decided to post it in its unfinished state both here and on Tumblr. There's more that I plan to do with this in the future, but I don't know when. For easy convenience, I'll be posting any additional writing relating to this as a second chapter whenever I get around to it. It might be a few months, it might be many months; at this point I'm unsure.
> 
> Update: Not sure if I’m coming back to this, so for now, I’m just marking it as complete.


End file.
